oatmeal cream pies

i classify almost all of my weekday baking as "stress induced" and "impulse baking." case in point, these oatmeal cream pies. some night last week (i think it was tuesday?) after a particularly long day at work and awork to do list with about six items on it and a home to do list with about right items - neither of them involving "do something fun, like bake cookies" - i had the urge to bake. i scrolled through the 124 cookie recipes i have saved in my google reader. chocolate chip? boring, at least for today. whoopie pies? peanut butter and chocolate? delicious! but oh they're too fussy and i'm in no mood for fuss. i needed a quick recipe with a high success rate; i'm in no mood for a failure. which brings me to these oatmeal cream pies. perfect. at 9:00 at night, while you're watching your favorite show, i'm mixing oatmeal and creaming marshmallow. and forty five minutes later i was licking the cookie & marshmallow cream bowls, assembling cookies.

as much as i freakin' love these cookies, i wasn't a huge little debbie fan. maybe it's because i bought my lunch at school and missed out on dessert in my lunch box. i don't remember my mom ever making oatmeal cookies, not that i'm complaining since we almost always had a homemade cookie in the cookie jar (except for the few times we had nutter butters or el fudge. do they still make those?).

i took half of these to work and they were scarfed up before lunch time. and jason. he turned his nose up at these before i even started cooking. oatmeal and marshmallow are two things the man does not like. (have you ever met someone that didn't like a s'more?!) while the second tray were in the oven, he came downstairs to smell what was baking. after one bite he was hooked. i will definitely make these again.

oatmeal cream pies

adapted from honey & jam
1 hour, makes 12 sandwich cookies

i used a 1 1/2 tablespoon disher to make these cookies and they were huge. two adults could share one, seriously. next time i'm cutting it down to one tablespoon or 2 teaspoons for a more manageable size. and sometimes i just want a sweet treat, not a cookie the size of my face.

for the cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups oats

for the filling:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups marshmallow cream
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk or water

1. in a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla.
2. whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa, cinnamon, and oats in a separate bowl. slowly add to the butter & sugar mixture until incorporated.
3. preheat your oven to 350F and refrigerate the dough for about 15 minutes.
4. line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop dough, about a tablespoon at a time, on the cookie sheet, at least two inches apart.
5. bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are starting to brown and the middle is still a bit soft.
6. transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
7. while the cookies are cooling, make the filling. cream the shortening and marshmallow cream together. add the powdered sugar, about a half cup at a time until incorporated. if the mixture gets thick, add milk or water, about a tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency. mix in the vanilla.
8. when the cookies are cool, match them up by size. use a knife or pastry bag and fill each cookie with cream. store in an airtight container. these will keep about five days.

check out more sweet treats at sweet tooth friday and sweets for a saturday!